Reed signs with SAU track and field

Cotter's Marie Reed signed a National Letter of Intent on Thursday to compete in track and field at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. Pictured are: first row, from left, her father, Eugene Reed; Marie Reed; her mother, Teresa Reed; second row, Cotter basketball and track and field coach Jared Wilhite; and Cotter volleyball coach Jody Foust.(Photo: Neal Denton/The Baxter Bulletin)Buy Photo

COTTER — One of the most decorated track and field athletes in Cotter High School history — who was a member of the school's most accomplished track team — will be continuing her track career at the college level.

Marie Reed, a four-sport standout for the Lady Warriors, signed a letter of intent Thursday to attend Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia on a track and field scholarship this fall.

"They have a beautiful campus," Reed said, "it's a public school, and it was a great offer. I went down there two weeks ago, and I really liked it. It's a very pretty campus, and they just built a new track. They have a really great weight room, and they said we'll be lifting four or five times a week, which is what I really love."

The Lady Muleriders, coached by Tim Servis, compete in the Great American Conference of NCAA Division II.

Reed, who won the Class 2A State title in the shot put with a throw of 35 feet, 8 inches this season, is expecting to learn some new events at SAU.

"(Servis) wants me to throw shot, and he wants me to do javelin and hammer (throw), and he talked about me being a heptathlete," Reed said. "I'm really excited to learn how to do those."

The Lady Warriors won their second straight 2A-2 District championship this season and placed third at the Class 2A State meet, the highest-ever finish for a Cotter track and field team. Reed won her second straight district high-point honor this season at the 2A-2 meet.

"It's awesome, because she was the high-point earner last year at district, then she went through the injuries with her shoulder," Cotter basketball and track coach Jared Wilhite explained. "We went to a couple meets, and she got to run and jump. But she couldn't throw, and that's her bread and butter. It was three or four days before the district meet that she got cleared to throw. She went there and won district and won the high-point again, and she went to state and became our first-ever female state champion."

Reed also won district titles this season in the shot put, discus, long jump and triple jump and was on the Lady Warriors' district championship 4x100 relay team. She already has set goals for her first season at SAU.

"I want to get above 40 feet in the shot," she said, "and I have no idea what the best javelin or hammer throws are. And as a heptathlete, you basically have to do a little bit of everything."

During Reed's junior season, she placed fourth in the shot put at the state meet, and she won the shot put, discus and triple jump at the district meet that season.

Reed also has excelled in basketball, softball and volleyball in her time at Cotter.

"I love this school," she said. "I love Cotter with all my heart. I cried the day I walked out. We did our walk-through for graduation. I was thinking about how I would never ride a bus again to go to a track meet or a basketball game, any of that. We did our best and went really far, and I'm proud of it."

While SAU may be located more than five hours away, several Great American Conference schools are located much closer to Baxter County.

"When she comes this way to Harding or Tech or one of those, we can definitely go watch her," Wilhite said.